KendallDillard

Kendall Dillard, former Virginia Tech women’s basketball operations assistant under head coach Kenny Brooks, enters his third season with the University of Kentucky women’s basketball program in 2026-27 after being hired on April 19, 2024. He spent his first season in Lexington as the director of player development and assistant coach in 2024-25, while he enters his second season as the director of scouting and program analytics in 2026-27.

Most recently, he is coming off his second season in the Bluegrass, which featured a 25-11 overall record, the program’s first March Madness Sweet 16 in a decade, a school-record four 2026 WNBA Draft Selections in Teonni Key (22nd, Toronto Tempo), Tonie Morgan (32nd, Chicago Sky), Amelia Hassett (35th, Los Angeles Sparks) and Jordan Obi (44th, Las Vegas Aces) and a sixth-ranked recruiting class that included three McDonald’s All-Americans. It was a team that, despite battling injury adversity, knocked off two Associated Press Top Five teams (at No. 5/5 LSU and vs. No. 5/5 Oklahoma), which marked the first time the program had defeated two teams ranked in the top five in one regular season, while it also defeated four AP Top 15 teams for the the first time in a regular season since 1982-83. Meanwhile, the team reached as high as No. 6 in the AP rankings themselves. The Wildcats reset 10 statistical school record on the season, while junior center Clara Strack was named a Lisa Leslie Center of the Year Top Five finalist – while also earning All-SEC First Team and Defensive Team honors in addition to numerous All-America nods – and senior transfer point guard Tonie Morgan was named a Nancy Lieberman Point Guard of the Year Top Five finalist in 2025-26.

In his first season in the Bluegrass, he helped a program, which featured 11 new players and 11 new coaches and staff, earn a 23-8 overall record, including an 11-5 mark in the Southeastern Conference to finish in fourth place in the loaded league. The Wildcats, who earned five ranked triumphs, ranked as high as No. 8 in the AP poll on the season, while they went on to earn the four seed and double bye at the SEC Tournament and the four seed and hosting privileges in the NCAA Tournament. The Cats broke or tied 12 school records before ending the season as the nation’s leader in blocks per game (7.0). Meanwhile, star-studded point guard Georgia Amoore went on to earn consensus All-America, Nancy Lieberman Point Guard of the Year Top Five Finalist, ESPN Newcomer of the Year, SEC Newcomer of the Year and All-SEC First Team – among others – before being picked No. 6 overall in the 2025 WNBA Draft by the Washington Mystics, while up-and-coming center Strack earned Lisa Leslie Center of the Year Top 10 Finalist, SEC Defensive Player of the Year, All-SEC Second Team and SEC All-Defensive Team.

Dillard arrived in Lexington after serving the previous 10 seasons at Virginia Tech, including the last eight of those 10 seasons under Brooks. In his decade in Blacksburg, he was a part of four NCAA Tournament appearances, including the Final Four in 2023. He also experienced the program’s first Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament title in 2023 and its first ACC regular-season title in 2024.

He used the first six seasons in Blacksburg as a student manager and practice player, serving the first two seasons under former head coach Dennis Wolff (2014-15, 2015-16) and the remaining four seasons under Brooks (2017-20).

Dillard stayed on with the program as a graduate assistant for the next two years (2020-21 and 2021-22) before being promoted to operations assistant for his final two years there (2022-23 and 2023-24).

The Virginia Beach, Virginia, native also has experience coaching at Ocean Lakes High School.

Dillard graduated with a bachelor’s degree in human development from Virginia Tech in 2020.

Coach BK’s year-by-year coaching career: